Estate Planning Blog

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 6-Sep-2017

Planning your estate requires much more than just figuring out your will. The purpose of an estate plan is to help you understand your financial needs and ensure your heirs are provided for in the best possible way. An estate plan not only makes the process of distributing assets and legacy wishes easier, but can also help you and your heirs pay significantly less in taxes, fees, and court costs. ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 4-Apr-2016

In September 2015, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a bill into law allowing Californians to use revocable transfer on death deeds for real estate. Otherwise known as a "Poor Man's Trust," these deeds allow homeowners to leave their property to their heirs without the need for probate, a traditionally costly and complicated process. Revocable transfer on death deeds are ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 8-Mar-2016

Elderly people who receive care in their home or in a nursing facility sometimes have a desire to leave a monetary gift to a caregiver. While this is a perfectly reasonable and understandable desire, if done in an incorrect fashion, certain snags can arise that prevent the caregiver from ever receiving the funds. What is a Certificate of Independent Review? California has several laws in place to ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 24-Aug-2015

If you're young, the top priorities on your mind are probably education, advancing your career, traveling the world, or meeting new people. Understandably, you aren't very likely to be worrying about the far end of your future, especially when it comes to planning out your estate. As distant or unrelated as a topic as estate planning might seem right now, that does not make it any less ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 17-Jul-2015

Many individuals are faced with this question. In their review of legal documents, trying to do a will or responding to inquiries (from relatives, beneficiaries or taxing agencies), this question often arises. Thinking of saving money (who doesn't want this) they reply, "No." With a "do-it-yourself" rush, they ignorantly plunge headlong into areas better left to the ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 23-Jan-2015

The four daughters of industrialist Julio Muñoz Ramonet have been locked in a court battle with the Spanish city of Barcelona for over two decades over the validity of their father's. Why? His most recent, unknown will left all the property to the city. This extensive litigation process highlights why it is so important to hire and retain an estate planning attorney that you trust to ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 20-Aug-2013

Growing up as children, we so easily believed that life would go on forever, because we didn't understand what death really meant. It wasn't until you experienced the loss of a loved one that you began to understand what life really means and that it does not go on forever. In fact, you likely learned that life can be taken in the blink of an eye by a tragic freak accident or because of an ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 29-Jan-2013

STATES IN WHICH NOT TO DIE Under recently passed federal law, families of individuals who die in the year 2013 with estates valued at less than $5,250,000 will not have to pay a federal estate tax. This exemption from federal estate tax can be doubled for married couples. This is not the case at the state level, however, as states have different inheritance tax rates and different exemptions. Does ...

Posted By Watkins, Blakely & Torgerson, LLP || 27-Dec-2012

Many individuals wonder why they should hire an estate planning attorney. One significant reason that everyone should keep in mind is that one missing signature or wrong word can change the intent of a trust or will. Estate planning is serious business, which is why it requires a serious approach. Complex State Laws State laws are very stringent on what can and cannot be included in a will or ...

Posted By Orange County Probate Attorney || 6-Jul-2012

If someone named you as the executor to their estate, sometimes called the "personal representative," then they have placed a great deal of trust and faith in you. Now that you are the executor for the estate, it's your responsibility to manage the assets responsibly and ensure that all debts are paid off, and to ensure that all creditors are paid, and most importantly, it's your ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 28-Nov-2011

Most people’s estate plans have a “Health Care Power of Attorney” or “Advanced Health Care” document. This document guides the medical practitioner when the patient cannot communicate his or her medical wishes. It is of utmost importance that this Health Care document precisely states the medical care that the patient’s agent can authorize. The Center for ...

Posted By P. Arnsen Blakely || 8-Jul-2011

Sure you can. You can also fly a plane, fix a jet engine, repair your IPhone, and install your own tankless water heater. But not without some training and experience will you be able to succeed. But, you say, wills are easy. I can copy grandmother's will. Of course you can. Why bother about President Obama's 2012 fiscal year budget that now includes 5,100 new IRS agents to chase down that ...

Posted By Arnie Blakely || 18-Mar-2011

Don't allow yourself to drown in a tsunami of confusion that swirls around family feuds, will contests, lawsuits, petitions, attorney notices, probate court filing requirements, irresponsible trustees, accountings that make no sense or threatening siblings. There is the ri ght thing to do. If you are a trustee or executor of a family member or friend's estate, you have certain fiduciary ...

Posted By Arnie Blakely || 17-Feb-2011

If you recently inherited an individual retirement account (IRA) from someone other than your wife or husband, you will need to make certain decisions about where to deposit the funds and what taxes are involved. Unhappy adverse tax consequences may result if certain rules are not followed. The rules that govern an inherited IRAs are different from rules that govern IRAs inherited by a surviving ...

Call for a free consultation

Follow Us On:

The information on this website is for general information purposes only. Nothing on this site should be taken as legal advice for any individual case or situation. This information is not intended to create, and receipt or viewing does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship.